


Date night

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dinner, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 12:10:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14915129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Arthur wants to have a nice dinner with Merlin before taking him to the theatre to see a show. Things don't go as planned.





	Date night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Camelittle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camelittle/gifts).



> Dear Cam! Even though belated, a very happy birthday and all the best wishes to you! 
> 
> And this, erm...I might have heard or not that something similar or not has happened to a couple I know...or maybe not. *grins*

Arthur looked at his watch and then to the door. Merlin should have been here fifteen minutes ago. He had to go to the city for work and Merlin wanted to meet him here so they could have a little dinner to celebrate his birthday before they went to see a show. It wasn’t unusual for Merlin to be a bit late. What was, though, was that he had obviously switched off his mobile. And that in itself wasn’t so unusual either. Merlin switched his mobile off at home all the time, claiming that those who really wanted something could as well use the landline or it wasn’t as important as they thought. 

But Merlin wasn’t at home, he was on his way as he had texted him more than an hour ago. Did anything happen? Arthur had checked all the news sites but there was no info about a train crash or about delays for some reason, so…where was Merlin?

Starting to feel a bit angry, Arthur downed his drink and gestured for the waiter to bring him another. 

 

Merlin fidgeted in his chair. This was a really nice restaurant and they had been here before but he always felt a bit weird when he was at their table all by himself and had to wait for Arthur. Maybe his meeting had taken longer? He should have been there almost twenty minutes ago and if he didn’t hurry up now, they would have to rush through dinner to get to the show on time. 

Merlin pouted. He had spent the afternoon fighting with his hair dresser over ‘Merlin, we could take this off here to make you look…’ and ‘No, just a tiny bit, it’s good as it is’. If it had been up to him, he wouldn’t have cut his hair at all, but he knew that Arthur liked him all cleaned up, so he had sacrificed a centimetre of his hair and got a professional shave. He was even wearing the light blue shirt that Arthur liked so much on him and was torturing his feet with dress shoes. It was way too warm to wear those, but Arthur came straight out of the meeting, he would most likely be wearing a suit and Merlin didn’t want it to look as if Arthur had taken mercy on someone he found on the street and bought them a meal. 

Speaking of Arthur, where was he? 

A bit annoyed, Merlin waved the waiter over and ordered his second drink.

 

Alright, that was it. This was why they couldn’t have nice date nights. Merlin was late. More than half an hour already. Arthur was sure he would have heard it if something had happened and Merlin could at least call the restaurant if he couldn’t make it. He had lost his mobile before, so this was another reason for him not answering. 

Arthur had chosen this restaurant on purpose. Yes, they had been to the one closer to his work before but this one here was a lot closer to the theatre and they could just get up and walk over to see the performance. It was a high-end chain of restaurants, so he didn’t have to fear that the quality in this one would not be up to standard. They had the exact same things on the menu and if Merlin took any longer, Arthur would know the menu by heart, he had read it so often. Not that he needed to read it, he knew exactly what he would chose and if he knew that Merlin was approaching, he could order for them both, Merlin always took the exact same thing when they were in the other restaurant.

The other restaurant. Arthur perked up. Merlin wouldn’t…

 

Merlin nervously tapped his foot and blew out a breath. It started getting really boring here and a bit annoying that the waiter came to his table to ask if everything was alright again and again. He could hardly order yet another drink as he was feeling the two he’d had already. Intending to order his favourite meal in this restaurant, Merlin had skipped lunch and the alcohol made itself known. 

Where the heck was Arthur? He was almost 45 minutes late. Why? Had something happened? Arthur’s building was right around the corner, maybe he should just go there and ask? But at this time, nobody would still be left in the building, so…

“Mr. Emrys?” The waiter stepped up to his table again.

“Yes?” How came the waiter knew his name?

“There’s a phone call for you.”

Merlin slowly got up and followed the young man. A phone call. Who would call the restaurant to tell him something? Was it bad news?

“Merlin? Oh gosh, Merlin! You went to the wrong place!”

Even though he was happy to hear Arthur’s voice, Merlin went into defensive mode right away when he heard the tone of voice. “What? I’m at Nuendo’s! Where we always go and where you wanted to meet me…45 minutes ago!” He had a hard time keeping his voice down.

“Nuendo’s, yes, not the one we always go to. Didn’t you get my text that I made reservations in the one closer to the theatre?”

“Errr…oh.”

“Oh? What are you waiting for, come here, I’ll order already, so we can have some food before the show, alright?”

“Err…yeah, I’ll hop on the bus and..”

“No! No, you won’t. That’ll only waste more time. Take a taxi.”

With that, Arthur had hung up. 

 

Only his idiot boyfriend would not read his messages and go to the wrong restaurant. At first, Arthur had been angry. Who on earth was so lazy to not check their messages? But then a chuckled built up and the moment Merlin came into the room, Arthur couldn’t help but laugh. 

First, Merlin looked at him a bit unsure, but then joined the laughter. 

“Only us.” Arthur sat back down, still chuckling.

“Only us.” Merlin giggled. 

The waiter chose this moment to bring them their food and finally, their date could begin.


End file.
